what happened to Angel in Season 5 people!

[The Arcane]

At the end of the day, Angel was cancelled due to money and the WB were simply unwilling to admit that, so instead tried to use excuse after excuse for why Angel was ending, rather than just say "we don't want to pay for it". Unfortunately they didn't count on the show's fans having brains.

 

[MrGordo]

It was not all about Spike! That's like saying it was all about Fred/Illyria or Eve. I actually believe that this season was extremely well carried for such a big cast (even Harmony had her own episode) definitely without a doubt for me it was the best season of Angel and probably one of my favorite TV season ever.

 

[white avenger]

Regardless of the relative sexiness of the two characters in question, or whether Angel was that popular on WB, or what reasons contributed to the series' demise....

The character of Spike was added to the "Angel" ensemble because of his popularity with the "Buffy" fans, and the fact that he, as a relative outsider, would be more of a counterbalance to the general actions of the other cast members. He could see from his place of detachment how the power and resources of Wolfram and Hart were corrupting the regular cast in the same was that he was used as the outsider in "Buffy" and, in both series his purpose was relatively the same: to have a relationship with the title character not shared by any of the other regulars. With Buffy as well as Angel, he was a former enemy, former lover, and currently (at the time of Season 7 "Buffy" and Season 5 "Angel") shared a somewhat ambiguous relationship with the title character (we can argue the "lover" issue as it pertains to Spike and Angel at some other time, but the speculation that Angel used sex as a way to dominate the younger vampire is a quite common theory).

There were only two characters in the Buffy/Angel canon capable of serving being used in the capacity that Spike was used in "Angel" Season 5, and those were Spike and Faith. Whether Faith was considered for this type of role is unknown, but the fact is that Spike got the part.

 

[The Arcane]

Whether Faith was considered for this type of role is unknown, but the fact is that Spike got the part.

It's doubtful that Faith was ever considered given the fact that Eliza had already been offered a Faith spinoff of her own and decided to turn it down for the lead in Tru Calling. I seriously doubt that anyone thought that she might be up for a supporting role in Angel when she didn't want to play the character in her own series.

As I said above, this subject isn't exactly hard to understand. Spike was brought to Angel because Joss had to find a card to play to help stop the show being cancelled. Spike was clearly the most popular non-lead character (some would say more popular than even the two leads) and so James was asked to join the series. Yes, Spike did add a lot of excellent story angles and directions to the show and it proved an excellent idea but initially it was less a creative choice and more a survival one.

 

[white avenger]

It's doubtful that Faith was ever considered given the fact that Eliza had already been offered a Faith spinoff of her own and decided to turn it down for the lead in Tru Calling. I seriously doubt that anyone thought that she might be up for a supporting role in Angel when she didn't want to play the character in her own series.


My point was that either Spike or Faith could have been the outside observer and foil to the developments in Season 5. I realize that Eliza was reluctant to recreate her character in another support role (still, Faith running around Wolfram and Hart, reacting to Wesley's body being stolen by the ancient hell god Illyria...there are real possibilities there)

 

[The Arcane]

My point was that either Spike or Faith could have been the outside observer and foil to the developments in Season 5. I realize that Eliza was reluctant to recreate her character in another support role (still, Faith running around Wolfram and Hart, reacting to Wesley's body being stolen by the ancient hell god Illyria...there are real possibilities there)

I'm not sure that is entirely true, to be honest. Faith had changed a great deal by the time of Angel season five and she had a lot of respect for Angel. Whilst she may have been a good replacement for Cordy I really don't think that Faith as she was at that point in time could have played the role Spike did, as the outsider. She was already too accepted by Angel's team.

 

[Your Creamy Coolness]

I Feel Your Pain.

If that was really their reasoning, I do think they were morons. They could have paired them up together, even though they're quite different...Dark Shadows is a horror soap while Angel...is not. But anyway, I do think fans of "Angel" would have liked "Dark Shadows" and it could have greatly benefited The WB rather than hurt them.

But when they cancelled "Angel" I don't think they had seen an actual pilot yet. There's an interview on www.collinwood.net somewhere where one of the crew members of the 2004 DS pilot was talking about the experiences on set. The director had no intention of doing a good job, the cast was wrong, but no one cared. They thought a pickup was definite and that they'd get to reshoot the entire pilot.

That really pisses me off though. Because now there's no sixth season of "Angel" or any season at all of "Dark Shadows". Grr.

Huge DS fan here. I was 14 when the 1991 pilot aired and I got hooked and then watched the old 60's soap and loved it as well. I was so sad when Angel got cancelled and DS didn't work out. I think the director ruined it. Some of the cast could have been changed and the pilot reshot. They have aired it at the festivals and it wasn't all bad. They blew 6 million and didn't even try to fix it. The WB never made sense to me. Getting rid of Buffy, treating Charmed like crap, cancelling Angel, and not trying to save Dark Shadows. I don't get their reasoning. The makeup artist from Buffy worked on the new DS and I have to say their demons and creatures were phenomenal. Todd Macintosh I beleive is name is.